Tag: Myrtle The Purple Turtle

Myrtle — who lived in our family’s hearts for 28 years, captured the imagination of S. African illustrator Jo Robinson, then, in the last year, charmed thousands of children and adults around the world — is on the move.

First, she returns this autumn as “Vertu”, in French. The text was translated by Myrtle-lovers Jean Long and Jessica Charnock, that creative duo whom you’ve met on this blog.

Here’s Jo’s draft of the cover:

Then Jessica emailed: Would Jo and I permit her to make a wall hanging of Myrtle?

Jo and I were giddy with excitement, of course, and Jessica proceeded to hook the Myrtle the Purple Turtle rug.

And what-do-you-know? Her wall hanging won “honourable mention” at the huge show and conference of the Ontario Hooking Craft Guild last May in our nation’s capital! Congrats, Jessica!

In the just-released Autumn issue of the Guild’s magazine, Myrtle’s story and wall hanging merit a whole page of their own.

Jo’s joyful response:

“I was blown away the first time I saw that fabulously-made Myrtle wall hanging. It is awesome that the Purple Turtle part of Cynthia Reyes’ lovely and loving family is honoured in such a way and by such a talented artist – Myrtle is a great and brave little purple soul and deserves it. Huge thank-you to Jessica and congratulations on placing in the competition! It will always be first with me!”

There’s a Myrtle sequel already written. Daughter Lauren joined me this time to write it, and Jo, despite a challenging year, is doing her part again — she’s well on her way with the illustrations and we expect the book to be published within weeks.

It appears that when Myrtle seizes the heart, inspiration strikes. Jessica, Jean, and our entire family are cheering Jo on as she approaches the finish-line with her part of the story.

Myrtle the Purple Turtle will be on display this Spring at the Annual Conference of the OHCG (Ontario Hooking Craft Guild) in our nation’s capital.

That’s both Myrtle-the-book and Myrtle-the-star of a wonderful hooked rug.

The creator of the rug is Jessica Charnock. If her name sounds familiar, that’s because she and Jean Long are the couple who are translating Myrtle into French. (Coming this spring.)

“There will be a show of rugs from all over the province and our group, as usual, will be represented,” says Jessica. “And that’s where Myrtle will be, together with the book. Our Area Representative loved the idea.”

Jessica started hooking rugs in 1996. Myrtle is # 69 in a journey of beautiful creations.

“I fell in love with an old Grenfell rug that belonged to a friend and which she later gave to me. I knew then that I had to learn this craft. I found out about a group of hookers in Cobourg and they were happy to introduce me to the craft which I picked up right away and learned very quickly.

“Of course, the fact that my home is a century + old log house, I chose to hook my rugs in a more primitive style.

“At first, of course, I was hooking them for ourselves, then when I realized that friends and family liked them, I made some for family and friends. Some were also given as wedding presents and some were made on commission.”

The piece below captures part of family history:

“My husband’s ancestor Philip Long — a Scottish soldier, a King’s mail courrier — built this establishment at the mouth of Madawaska river on Temiscouata-sur-le-Lac in Cabano, Quebec. This was an inn where travellers would stop overnight on their long trip from Quebec to Fredericton, New Brunswick.”

Every rug has a story.

“I hooked this rug (below) from a photograph which was taken when we first purchased our canoe in 1969 from Chief Dan Sarrazin of the Golden Lake Reserve, the builder of canoes. It is an authentic Algonquin birch bark canoe which is still in our possession.

“About three years ago, we became curious and decided to go back to Golden Lake Reserve with the photograph and see if we could locate the little boy, the Chief’s son, who was about 10 at the time. We did meet with a few people and it finally was the librarian who identified the boy. We were lucky to meet with him and as soon as we showed him the photograph he recognized himself and we had a lovely visit with him. He was then 45 years old.”

If anyone wants to know why Bowmanville, a historic town east of Toronto, is becoming so popular with young families, retirees and those in-between — many moving from big centres — the pictures below are one reason:

Would you believe we’re in a bank?

Yes, and it’s Storytime!

Author Viki McDonald (“Coach Tate and Team Triple 8”) and I were invited to read our stories at Bowmanville’s DUCA credit union.

Children and their parents sat comfortably on the blankets and comforters that the DUCA staff had spread on the floor.

Vikki and I sat in chairs made even more comfy with quilts that were made by the mother of DUCA manager Karen.

Are you feeling the small-town spirit yet?

We’d stop at times and ask the children questions about the storylines and they’d shout back answers, sometimes making everybody laugh.

Cupcakes and cookies were served.

The idea for a storytime came from staffer Meeghan, and was quickly accepted by Karen and the other staff. They approached me shortly after Myrtle the Purple Turtle was published. I was surprised, but also delighted.

Young Bowmanville resident Timea Williams with Cynthia Reyes

And now I’m going to embarrass myself a little. When I first moved to this region a few years ago, I dropped into the DUCA branch. Taken aback by their kindness, I blurted out: “Are people here always THIS friendly?”

As you may know, I struggle with issues from a car accident, and one of them is that my brain doesn’t always co-operate with tasks that were once ridiculously easy. I also sometimes stutter and can’t get the words out clearly. But the DUCA staff took it all in stride, and when my book “An Honest House” (which describes my efforts to learn to live with those issues) was published, I went in to share the news.

Their reaction was such that you would have thought I was family.

So as I think about it, perhaps Storytime in a bank — authors reading their stories and young families seated happily on the floor, listening — makes perfect sense.

Posts navigation

Search

Recent Posts

My Books

Myrtle the Purple Turtle by Cynthia ReyesAn Honest House by Cynthia ReyesA Good Home by Cynthia ReyesFollow my author page on Amazon Author CentralConnect with me on Goodreads

Awards

An Honest House was the recipient of the 2016 Diamond Book Award, "Book of the Year"

Interviews

Cynthia Reyes featured on CBC Radio's The Next Chapter, interview with Shelagh Rogers about "A Good Home"Cynthia Reyes featured on Metro Morning, interview with Matt Galloway about "Myrtle the Purple Turtle"Use the hashtag #loveyourshell and share with the world what makes you YOU!